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Article on the volunteers involved in badminton

Raphy submitted a report on the behind-the-scenes folks (volunteers) who help made the Olympics badminton matches a success (http://www.worldbadminton.net). I like the part about the stringers - 628 racquets over 2 weeks with 16 for Yao Jie!!!

We have strung over 628 rackets over the past two weeks - a little more than usual, because it’s the Olympics and also because we had to restring all the Danish team’s rackets because of a logo size problem,” explained Lawrence. A total of 628 rackets for five stringers works out as an average of 125 rackets per stringer… not bad!

“But overall, it’s been a nice event. We had some time off when we arrived on 1 August because there was no team yet, so we had the opportunity to visit Athens, but then after that we didn’t have much time to see other events” said the Englishman.

Long hours, and its usual routine stuck in the training hall, who is just minutes away from the main area, but with hardly any chance to see some matches. Work wise, the stringers have to deal with the usual players’ requests : “For instance, we had to restring 16 rackets for Yao Jie, from the Netherlands, but other than that, it’s the usual sort of figures.”

The stringing weight ranges from 21 pounds to 36 pounds, the latter being for Jens Eriksen, the tall Dane, who clinched the bronze medal in the mixed doubles.